Sarah Palin on Gun Control

Republican Governor (AK); ; nominee for Vice President

Shot her first rabbit at age 10; freezer filled with game

The Heath house in Wasilla sat near woodlands of birch, willow, and spruce. The woods were a wilderness playground--the kind of place where kids play out the imaginative adventures of childhood.

In both summer and winter, most of the family's activitie
took place outdoors. Sarah said that she appreciates the many outdoor adventures she had as a child. Fitness was a big part of family life. "My parents jumped on the bandwagon of the '70s running craze," she said. The whole family ran together, competing
in five- and ten-kilometer races throughout the summer.

When the family wasn't running or hiking, it was hunting or fishing. "We could literally go hunting out our back door," [Sarah's brother] Chuck Jr. said. Sarah shot her first rabbit at age ten not
far from the back porch. In her teens, she hunted caribou with her father. The family's freezer was always full of fish and game. Chuck Jr. said he didn't eat a beef steak until he was a senior in high school. Gardening helped fill the family larder.

Hunts and fishes, as did her father

Her father shot the grizzly bear whose hide is now draped over the sofa in her office. She, too, hunts and fishes. She runs marathons. She delivered her fifth child during her first term as governor. They call her husband, the reigning champion in the
annual Iron Dog snowmachine race, First Dude.

Though indisputably Alaskan, she rose to prominence by bucking the state’s rigid Republican hierarchy, impressing voters more with gumption, warmth and charm than an established record in government.

Hunts as much as she can; freezer-full of wild game

Like many Alaskans, Gov. Sarah Palin is a lifelong hunter and strong proponent of Second Amendment rights. A longtime member of the National Rifle Association, she told USA Today when she was running for governor as a
Republican in 2006 that “We hunt as much as we can, and I’m proud to say our freezer is full of wild game we harvested here in Alaska.” Palin’s favorite food? “Moose stew after a day of snowmachining,” she said.

Source: Q&A with Newsweek’s Brian Braiker
Aug 29, 2008

Supports ending D.C.’s 32-year-old ban on handguns

Governor Sarah Palin today lauded the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision upholding the right of Americans to own guns for self-defense, hunting and other purposes. The high court’s 5-4 ruling in District of Columbia vs.
Heller affirmed gun rights by striking down the District’s 32-year-old ban on handguns.

“This decision is a victory for all Alaskans and individual Americans.
The right to own guns and use them responsibly is something I and many other Alaskans cherish,“ Governor Palin said. ”I applaud the Court for standing up for the Constitution and the right of Americans to keep and bear arms.“

The state of
Alaska in February joined a multi-state amicus brief written by the state of Texas in support of the Second Amendment right of individual Americans to bear arms.

Lifelong NRA member & champion of right to bear arms

Governor Sarah Palin announced the State of Alaska will join the multi-state amicus brief authored by the State of Texas in support of the Second Amendment right of individual Americans to bear arms. The Texas amicus brief in the case
Washington, D.C. v. Heller will be filed by February 11, 2008.

Governor Palin, a lifelong member of the National Rifle
Association, has long been a champion of the constitutional right to bear arms, as well as a proponent of gun safety programs for Alaska’s youth.

“I am proud to join the State of Texas in support of the Second Amendment,”
Governor Palin said. “We need to send a strong message that law-abiding citizens have a right to own firearms, for personal protection, for hunting and for any other lawful purpose.”